Ball State U Explores Sewage Treatment Greenhouse

Ball State University is considering the construction of a greenhouse to treat and recycle its wastewater.

The idea is to save money, cut energy use, discharge cleaner water, lower the demand on the public water supply, decrease the load on the city’s wastewater treatment plant, use less water and teach students.

“We’re involved in a potential project at the feasibility stage, to determine if we can do it,” said Kevin Kenyon, associate vice president of facilities planning and management at the university. “There are a lot of issues involved, including financial, technical and legal aspects. Like any project, they all start out as an idea. Sometimes they go somewhere, sometimes they don’t.”

In April, BSU’s council on the environment adopted a resolution endorsing the use of a technology created by Organica Water, a Budapest, Hungary firm that calls its facilities a “BlueHouse.”